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Took me 8 years to realize I was over-torquing deck screws in Edmonton winters
After a deck board popped up last spring I found all my screws were stripped from expanding and contracting in the cold, and my neighbor the contractor pointed out I should have used exterior-grade screws and left a 1/16 gap between boards the whole time - anyone else make this mistake on their first deck build?
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sullivan.john3mo ago
Oh man, don't get me started on deck building mistakes. I built my first deck back in 2015 and used regular drywall screws because they were cheap and I didn't know any better. Come spring half the boards had popped up like they were trying to escape. I also skipped the gaps between boards because I wanted it to look tight and clean. That was a dumb move. The wood swelled up so bad in the rain I could barely get a butter knife between some of them. At least your neighbor saved you before you had to rip the whole thing apart like I did. Did you have to pull up every board or just replace the stripped screws?
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uma8963mo ago
Man, I’ve been there too. What finally worked for me was switching to coated exterior screws with a Torx head, they bite way better in the cold and don’t strip as easy. I also started predrilling every hole, even though it takes forever, it stops the wood from splitting when the temps drop to -30. For the gaps, I use a 1/16 spacer strip between boards as I go, it’s ugly but it saves you from those popped boards later. Honestly, taking that extra 15 minutes per row has kept my deck flat through three winters now. Hope yr neighbor’s advice saves you a redo.
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